The Alpine Exploratory Team 2024

We present the Alpine Exploratory team!

Alpine Exploratory's Edinburgh office
In Alpine Exploratory's Edinburgh office are Lucy, Steph, Nicky, Dan, Rob, Evie and Simon. Together the seven of us are your contacts for your 2024 trip.

Lucy Harvey

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Operations Manager

Steph Ward

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Head Operations Manager

Nicky Mount

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Operations Manager
Head of Group Trips

Rob Rannard

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Operations Manager
Head of Route Research

Evie Butler

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Travel Advisor Head of Marketing and sustainability

Ben Hughes

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Travel Advisor

Amy Gallehawk

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Travel Advisor

Simon Stevens

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Co-Founder
Director

Alpine Exploratory's researching and leading team
Alpine Exploratory leaders will spread out across our trips over Summer.

Ailsa Gibson

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Co-Founder
Head of Environment

Alex Kendall

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Researcher
Trip Leader

Claire Georges

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Researcher
Trip Leader

Diane McGuinness

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Researcher
Trip Leader

Jonty Mills

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Researcher
Trip Leader

Joy O'Flanagan

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Researcher
Trip Leader

Lou Stone

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Researcher
Trip Leader

Mikaela Toczek

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Researcher
Trip Leader

Paul McCaffrey

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Researcher
Trip Leader

Pete Ellis

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Researcher
Trip Leader

Phil Jarratt

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Researcher
Trip Leader

Rob Gale

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Technical Advisor
Researcher
Trip Leader

Tim Ayriss

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Researcher
Trip Leader

Alpine Exploratory's Edinburgh office

In the office and organising your trips are Lucy, Steph, Nicky, Rob, Evie, Ben and Simon.

Lucy Harvey

Operations Manager at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Lucy joins us in the office and on the trails. Growing up on a farm in the Yorkshire Dales, Lucy has always loved to be in the outdoors and doesn't feel complete without a trip to the mountains in the diary! Along with her black Labrador Poppy she is happiest out for a walk whether that be on the East Lothian coastline or up a hill somewhere.

Short biography
A geographer by training, Lucy has worked for Alpine Exploratory since the company was based in Yorkshire. Lucy is involved with many aspects of the business and primarily deals with clients as they book with us. A keen skiier, Lucy ran a chalet between Tignes and Val d'Isere in 2014-15. Since then she continues to ski much on-piste and off-piste (including in Japan in 2019), with a goal of skiing the Haute Route between Chamonix and Zermatt in the near future.

Plans for Summer 2024
In April Lucy will walk the whole of the Affric Kintail Way in Scotland. Later in the summer she will head to the Maritime Alps to research a new trip - we plan on walking sections of the GR52. Look out for updates on our new trips!

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Steph Ward

Head Operations Manager at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Steph joined Alpine Exploratory with an extensive background of walking, like many of the team solidly into the Munros in the Scottish Highlands. Steph was Social Secretary for the Edinburgh University Hill-Walking Club.

Short biography
After university Steph spent 14 months in New Zealand, working and traveling on the South Island, as well as Vietnam and Cambodia.

Plans for Summer 2024
Steph will lead our Kerry Way research in the Spring, before heading out to the Dolomites to see our new Alta Via 9 route. This is one of a few new trips we are researching this suumer - see more details on our Pipeline page.

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Nicky Mount

Operations Manager, Head of Guided Trips at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
After a four-month trip around Patagonia, Nicky joined Alpine Exploratory and brought her joie de vivre and experience. With a background in the expedition industry, she’s always planning an outdoor adventure and can’t wait to help you organise your next one too!

Short biography
Having graduated with a BA in Anthropology and African Studies Nicky has a keen interest in people, travel and culture. She’s been lucky enough to travel to places such as India, Ghana, Latin America, as well as living in New Zealand. When she’s not in the office you’ll find her out paddling down rivers, walking in the hills or climbing at the local gym. In late 2022 Nicky was able to spend a month exploring Colombia.

Plans for Summer 2024
Nicky will walk our Lake District Tour in April. In Summer, Nicky will see our Alta Via 2 North, checking out the route before our first season begins in August. She's also visiting North Norway to research new routes in the Lofoten Islands.

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Rob Rannard

Operations Manager, Head of Route Research at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Rob joined the Alpine Exploratory team in April 2022 from a background of hillwalking and climbing around the UK and particularly the Scottish Highlands. Rob was Meets Secretary for Edinburgh University’s Hillwalking Club.

Short biography
Rob studied Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, spending his spare time playing music and exploring as much as possible of the Scottish Highlands. Alongside handling bookings and enquiries at Alpine Exploratory’s office, Rob is also working towards his Mountain Leader and Rock Climbing Instructor qualifications with Mountain Training.

Plans for Summer 2024
Rob heads to the Hebridean Way in Spring to get to know better one of our most popular UK routes. In Summer he'll be walking sections of the Swiss Via Alpina visiting the western half of the route.

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Evie Butler

Travel Adviser, Head of Marketing and sustainability at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Evie joined our team in May 2023 straight out of a ski season in France and running London Marathon. With a background in the Adventure Travel and Fitness industries, she’s certainly the person to ask about keeping fit for your trip!

Short biography
Evie studied Adventure Education at the University of Chichester, and worked for 4 years in the Adventure Travel industry before heading off on a year long adventure around South East Asia (including living and working in China). She’s also a qualified Personal Trainer and works on the side as a Social Media Manager – a jack of all trades. If she’s not in the office, she’s often off running around new countries, swimming in rivers and lochs, or up in the mountains trying to tick off her munro list. She’s also got a keen eye for sustainability, so will be helping us become a more sustainable travel company.

Plans for Summer 2024
Heading off on a ski season in La Rosiere for the winter and returning to work for Alpine Exploratory in May 2024. Evie will check out the West Highland Way in May, and the Tour du Mont Blanc in June - seeing our most popular Alpine and UK routes!


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Ben Hughes

Travel Adviser at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Ben joined the Alpine Exploratory team in February 2024 with a background in travel and hiking that has spanned six continents and covered the Andes, the Rockies, the Himalayas and much more.

Short biography
Ben studied Creative Sound and Music at the University of South Wales. After graduating, he began travelling around Europe and then ventured further afield - spending time in Canada, USA, Australia, Southeast Asia and South America. Now based in Edinburgh, he continues to explore these two passions - often playing music alongside other musicians around the city or planning for his next adventures!

Plans for Summer 2024
Ben will walk parts of the Snowdonia Way in April and in June he will head to the Alps to walk some of the popular Tour du Mont Blanc.


Recces 2024

Amy Gallehawk

Travel Adviser at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Amy joined the Alpine Exploratory team in April 2024 after studying Business Management at the Univeristy of Edinbugh.

Short biography
During her time at the University of Edinburgh, Amy was an active member of the university’s Snowsports team. As a keen skier, Amy has travelled to across France, Switzerland, the US, and Canada, but her favourite place to ski is here in Scotland. Amy's love for the outdoors leads her to explore more of Scotland, where she enjoys hiking, swimming, surfing, and bagging some more Munros in her free time.

Plans for Summer 2024
Amy will walk parts of the Alta Via 1 in July.


Recces 2024

Simon Stevens

Co-Founder and Director at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Simon's first mountain was Coniston Old Man in the Lake District. This kicked off an enthusiasm that has led to countless trips in the UK and the Alps. Simon was at various times Trip Co-ordinator, Archivist and Minibus Rep in the Oxford University Walking Club, solid training for Alpine Exploratory!

Short biography
Simon was an economist with Economic Consulting Associates in London working on development bank projects. In 2005 it became time to start a mountain life proper, and after five months of traveling Simon set up Alpine Exploratory.

Plans for Summer 2024
This summer Simon will be seeing some new areas of the Alps, and exploring new train routes to reach the routes. In May he'll visit Davos and St Moritz in Switzerland - end points of one our new routes. From Switzerland he'll explore train connectons to Tirano in Italy. In June he'll travel between Turin and Nice and explore another new area for us - the Martime Alps.

Simon on LinkedIn
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Alpine Exploratory's researching and leading team

We'd like you to meet our leaders: Alex, Claire, Diane, Jonty, Joy, Lou, Mikaela, Paul, Pete, Phil, Rob and Tim.

From the start of Alpine Exploratory in 2005, all our trek leaders have been International Mountain Leaders (IMLs). The IML under the organisation of the Union of International Mountain Leader Associations (UIMLA) is the professional qualification to lead trekking and mountain walking groups worldwide. Supporting the IML award ensures for our clients the highest standards in leadership, safety and environmental awareness.

The IML is one of two mountaineering awards that are recognised internationally, the other being the UIAGM Guide. In the UK the IML holders are represented by the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML). Until early 2005 the IML was known as the European ML in the UK and the Accompagnateur in France. Some of us are old enough that we passed the EML, as it was..!

Ailsa Gibson

Co-Founder and Head of Environment at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Ailsa is an environmentalist and an experienced walker and skier, with trips to Iceland, Austria, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Slovenia as well as plenty in the Lake District and the Highlands.

Short biography
Ailsa's environmental experience covers the fields of planning, conservation, local environmental quality and climate change. Ailsa spent a summer on the Isle of Skye while researching forestry management for the John Muir Trust.

Ailsa on LinkedIn
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Alex Kendall

Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Alex is a mountain leader and author who lives in the Yorkshire Dales, where he can mostly be found running and mountaineering in the Howgills and the Lake District.

Short biography
Alex has worked in the outdoors since 2011, travelling all over the world on expeditions as varied as mountaineering in the Arctic, trekking across the Oman desert and working in the Borneo rainforest. He loves to explore new places and is generally up for trying everything once. He has written guidebooks for Cicerone Press, and various magazine articles on outdoor topics.

Plans for Summer 2024
Alex will be active this Summer in the Dolomites and more widely across the Alps.

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Claire Georges

Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Claire is our French mountain guide on the ground in the Chamonix region. She speaks excellent English after living overseas. Being from the Chamonix region, she has been hiking, mountaineering and many other outdoor activities for as long as she can remember, and she looks forward to guiding you on your upcoming hike!

Short biography
With a background as a pharmacist, Claire decided to make a career change and obtain her International Mountain Leader qualifications in 2022. Claire has been leading trips in the French Alps (Mont-Blanc, Vanoise, Fiz, Beaufortain, Ecrins etc), Italian Alps and Swiss Alps since qualifying, and she is excited to discover new regions too.

Plans for Summer 2024
Claire will be doing our pre-season recce on the Tour of the Vanoise in early July. In the summer she will lead 2 of our Guided Tour du Mont Blanc trips.

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Diane McGuinness

Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Diane is an expert in the Italian Dolomites, spending whole Summers researching hiking routes and leading groups on the Alta Via 1, the Alta Via 2, and her own routes. As well as Italian and French language and cultural knowledge, Diane has vast experience of successful incident management of accidents and injuries, and an eye for the logistics and organisation that make a trip a success.

Short biography
Diane was manager at Patterdale Youth Hostel in the Lake District, later working in operations for three large travel companies. Diane's UK base is in the Lakes, and since 2005 she has lived and worked amongst the mountains of Italy and France. Diane has a wealth of local knowledge and enthusiasm for their many attributes, whether language, history, fauna and flora, local legends or the fantastic food and drink to be encountered on the way. Diane loves to find the cosiest refuges and the best restaurants along the way.

Plans for Summer 2024
Diane will be in the Dolomites for large parts of Summer 2024, basing her season in Italy. She'll provide our pre season information on the condition on the Alta Via 1.

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Jonty Mills

Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Jonty is a mountain leader and a medical doctor. Jonty has been hill-walking, climbing, skiing and biking in many areas of the UK for 20 years, including across the Scottish Highlands & Islands, the Lake District and Wales. His overseas experience includes multiple trips to the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Rocky and Coast Mountains of Canada, Corsica, Morocco as well as Mount Kenya.

Short biography
Jonty lives near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. He still practises part-time as a doctor, with interests in Infection as well as Mountain Medicine, but now spends more of his time guiding and instructing in the mountains. When not working, he can usually be found either back in the mountains again, or enjoying family-time at home with his wife and two young sons.

Plans for Summer 2024
Jonty will be leading a privately guided Via Alpina trip in Summer 2024.

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Joy O'Flanagan

Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
As well as hiking and snowshoeing, Joy is a keen climber, runner and skier. Joy has trekked and climbed across the Alps and also in North America, Pakistan and the Indian Himalaya.

Short biography
Originally a Chartered Physiotherapist in the UK, the pull of the mountains was too strong and in 2002 Joy relocated to Chamonix. After several years based in Chamonix, Joy has spent recent Winters at the Venabu lodge in Norway, leading cross-country skiing. Now our person in Norway, we seek Joy's locla knowledge for the Jotunheimen and Rondane areas. Joy has successfully competed in The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, the Chamonix marathon, and mountain marathons in the UK and France.

Plans for Summer 2024
Joy is based in Southern Norway and will be advising us on our Norwegian operations.

Joy on LinkedIn
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Lou Stone

Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Lou has a wide range of experience leading a variety of trips, from hut to hut trekking and via ferrata in Italy, to Snowshoeing in Arctic Norway. Now based in Switzerland, Lou has enjoyed exploring her home close to the Alps.

Short biography
Lou has been exploring mountains by many means since 1997, mostly in the UK and Western Europe. Particular highlights have been: an ascent of Mera Peak (6,476m) in Nepal; a birthday trad multi-pitch up the East Face of Tryfan in N Wales; picking off four 4,000ers in a day in the Monte Rosa massif on the Italian side; and seeing a brocken spectre on Angel’s Ridge in a Cairngorms winter in Scotland.

Plans for Summer 2024
Lou will be part of our recce team on the Via Alpina and Walker's Haute Route trips in Summer 2023, in Switzerland. She'll also be helping with some reseach on one of our new trips - Davos to St Mortiz.

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Mikaela Toczek

Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Mikaela is an International Mountain leader, Outdoor Educator and Media-maker currently living and working in Slovenia with her young family. Mikaela is passionate about how we connect with our natural environment and can usually be found hiking, running, climbing, swimming or snowshoeing in the forests, mountains and open-water of Slovenia.

Short biography
Prior to moving to Slovenia, Mikaela was based in Wales, working with groups exploring the Brecon Beacons, teaching climbing on the Gower Peninsula and leading overseas expeditions, including India, Morocco, South Africa and Nicaragua. With a background in teaching, Mikaela brings her expertise in experiential learning to all that she does, particularly when it comes to the incredible adaptations that can be found in Alpine flora and fauna.

Plans for Summer 2024
Mikaela will be part of our recce team on the Julian Alps trip in Summer 2024, in Slovenia.

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Paul McCaffrey

Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Paul joined Alpine Exploratory in 2022 bringing an enormous range of experience across Europe and further afield. Paul is based in Winchburgh outside Edinburgh. A perfect day for Paul is one where he is challenging himself, guiding other like-minded people in beautiful wild places and bringing those places to life.

Short biography
In 2014-15 Paul was on the Nightwatch scheme at Glenmore Lodge, responsible for kit stores at this famous outdoor centre in the Cairngorms. Paul has since worked at other outdoor centres and is a long-standing leader with one of the big walking firms in Scotland.

Plans for Summer 2024
In Summer 2024 Paul will lead our Guided Alta Via 1 trip.

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Pete Ellis

Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Most summers Pete can be found working in the European Alps. Outside the summer, Scotland is a favourite destination - Pete has climbed all 282 Munros twice, the highest Scottish peaks - or trips to mountains anywhere around the world if the itinerary looks appealing! Pete is one of our longest-serving freelance employees, and as of September 2024 has clocked up 47 trips for us, since a first TMB in 2009.

Short biography
Pete was an International Mountain Leader for 15 years, and led walks and treks in many parts of the world. The Chamonix area was a particular speciality. In addition, he has climbed many mountains across the globe, including the Seven Continental Summits, finishing on Everest (Tibet side) in 2012. Pete is now our lead researcher of new trips, often being sent out to do the first recce and write the initial routecards. Usually he returns with an enthusiastic recommendation; just occasionally, with tales of daring exploits which rate the trek beyond the scope of our clients!

Plans for Summer 2024
Pete will be visiting many of our new routes this summer - the Maritime Alps, Davos and St Mortiz, and sections of the Munich to Venice Dream Way. See details of our trips in the pipeline. He'll also be walking our full Adlerweg in June to carry out our pre-season recce.

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Phil Jarratt

Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Phil Jarratt is a widely experienced mountain leader. Formerly based in Chamonix year-round, then in South Africa and Malaysia, and now in Northumberland, Phil returns to Chamonix in the Winters to lead snowshoe walks.

Short biography
Phil has trekked and been on expedition in Europe, South America, Southern Africa, the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, China and Mongolia. Before life in the mountains, Phil spent several years in industry.

Plans for Summer 2024
Phil will be leading our privately guided Hebridean Way trip in September.

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Rob Gale

Technical Advisor, Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Rob's experience in European mountains includes France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Romania, and in the USA his travels have taken him to Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada and into Montana including many 14,000ft peaks.

Short biography
Rob is based in Austwick in North Yorkshire and in Chamonix in France. Rob works for a variety of organisations on training and development on professional and degree courses.

Plans for Summer 2024
In Summer in the Alps, Rob again forms a big part of our Tour du Mont Blanc programme. He'll be carrying out our preseason recce and leading our July trip. He's also leading our Guided Walker's Haute Route trip. Rob continues to be our Technical Advisor to oversee our walking and researching procedures.

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Tim Ayriss

Researcher and Trip Leader at Alpine Exploratory

Introduction
Tim has a specialism in the Austrian Alps, working with the Austrian Alpine Club (AAC), and back home with youth groups in the hills of Scotland. Away from trekking, Tim is a proficient skier.

Short biography
Tim is originally from Calgary, Canada, more recently living near Stirling, and now in Germany with his young family.

Plans for Summer 2024
Tim will be back in the Alps for us in 2024!

Tim on LinkedIn
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Guided and Self-Guided Holidays - see them all